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Hammering on Layoffs, and CNN Loses Out to a Cowboy Channel

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jan 24, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

01.24.24

Reporting on the Mirror – LOS ANGELES TIMES

  • It is very rude of us to behave like they have!

With the announcement of the Los Angeles Times gutting a significant portion of its news staff, there has been a reaction from many of a rather non-sympathetic position. Seeing people being less than sad – with some on social media outright cheering – has provoked some angry reactions from journalists. There have been those lashing out at the comments, but this is done from a rather oblivious stance, considering the rather callous ways those in the press have treated other industries enduring job losses in the past. 

One reporter who walked right into the buzzsaw he plugged in himself was Mark Barabak, who complained about those not concerned for the personal lives of laid-off reporters, as well as castigating anyone who delivered the "learn to code" response to the news. Mark needed to be reminded that phrase was not a creation of those on the right, as well as to his own rather unsympathetic stance regarding police and fire department members fired over their vaccine status.

Low Octane Gas Lighting – (not)CNN

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  • A reminder of how much we miss Chris…

For reasons clear only to him, Chris Cillizza felt the need to opine on those people commenting on the journalism layoffs, and he did so in the most stunted way possible – Chris delivers bald-faced lies about the past, serving as a reminder of why people are reacting in a hostile fashion. It also serves as a reminder of why he was laid off from CNN just over a year ago. Try following his impacted timeline.

First, he was critical of Ron DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern for saying he was at peace with seeing these jobs diminished. Cillizza was quickly reminded that not only had many of his former brethren in the media used the term "learn to code" years back, but so had Joe Biden. This got Chris in a snit.

Next, he was flooded with examples of Joe Biden actually saying this, and Chris had to shift away – sort of – while still denying reporters ever suggested coal miners get into the computer game.

NOW, Chris has to stand firmly on the press having never said this dastardly phrase, as he meekly admits to Biden's quote (while clinging on a technicality; Biden "actually" said "Learn to program"...which is the exact same thing). He even repeated his claim, feeling that by restating being half right twice that could count as being fully correct…we assume?

Except, he was not even half-correct.

Anti-Social Media – NBC NEWS

In another vacant hit piece executed against the Libs Of TikTok and its owner Chaya Raichik, NBC News comes out with an accusatory piece about her being involved with school book selections in Oklahoma. While questioning her validity, there are also wild accusations of Raichik being responsible for bomb threats made at particular targets. You know the drill – she posts, a leftist agenda is exposed, some wing nuts call in a threat, and the press leaps to conclusions. 

Making this all the more insipid is this tidy little entry, deep in the piece by Matt Lavietes:

The threats against Union Public Schools were not deemed credible, according to Tulsa police, who investigated the incident in coordination with the FBI and Broken Arrow Police.

Ah, we see now; there was no real crime to be found, but Chaya is still pronounced guilty! That's…convenient.

DNC PR Firm – NBC NEWS

  • But enough about the topic YOU brought up – tell her how she is wrong about Biden!

One of the more enjoyable things to come up in covering the press is when the staid and professional reporters accidentally let their Democratic sympathizing masks slip as they fail to realize it is happening. This happened when Garrett Haake was covering the New Hampshire primary last night and spoke with a Republican woman on the floor of one location.

Watch as Haake begins asking her about Republican-specific details, but the moment she mentions the economy being in poor condition, Garrett moves from being a questioner and slips into debate mode to protect Joe Biden's reputation on the subject.

Demo-lition Project – CNN

  • At this rate, the network will look really bad if they begin tabulating the ratings of infomercials.

How poorly are things running over at CNN? Well, the weekly ratings from Nielsen recently came out, and while Fox and ESPN topped the cable numbers for primetime programming, as expected, CNN slid down to a 10th-place position. The cable news giant fell behind the History Channel and the little-known INSP Network, which plays reruns of westerns and other cowboy-related programming. 

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"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature with coverage of the deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the nation, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.